Survey looks at pandemic planning in Hong Kong businesses
Over 60 percent of the companies responding to the survey said they knew what pandemic ‘flu was. However, only 36.2 percent of them got the right answer about the occurrence interval of pandemic ‘flu, and around 40 percent of them were confused as to how humans become infected with avian ‘flu. “Enterprises generally have inadequate understanding of pandemic ‘flu, including the inability to distinguish between different kinds of ‘flu accurately. This may cause various degrees of misunderstanding or confusion and thus affect companies’ preparedness in dealing with this potential health hazard. A pandemic outbreak may occur at any time, and may have a serious impact on human beings in terms of causalities. It is our opinion that companies should be better prepared against the risk of business disruption as a result of a pandemic flu outbreak,” said Mr. Lai Kam-tong, president of the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management. Of the 60 percent of respondents who were aware of the severe impact a pandemic ‘flu outbreak could have, around 35 percent said they had a business continuity plan covering a wide range of possible crisis situations. Ninety percent of the senior management of the respondent companies agreed that it is ‘important’ or ‘extremely important’ to prepare for a possible pandemic outbreak. However, more than 80 percent of companies reported they have not yet allocated any budget to deal with such a crisis. Meanwhile, close to 95 percent of respondents predicted moderate-to-high impact on their operations due to an increase in employee absenteeism as a result of a pandemic flu outbreak in Hong Kong. Around 80 percent also forecast possible negative impacts on staff, such as loss of productivity due to employee anxiety or poor morale, as well as high stress suffered by employees, especially front-line employees. Regarding support and protection measures for employees, with previous experience in handling the SRS outbreak, the survey found that close to 80 percent of respondent companies would provide infection-control supplies (such as hand-hygiene products and receptacles) in business locations during a pandemic outbreak. Some 70 percent said they would keep employees updated with information on the development of the pandemic, as well as enhancing their communications and IT infrastructure to support employee telecommuting and remote customer access. However, 60 percent of respondent companies said that they would not provide support in terms of flu medication for employees. Also, over 45 percent revealed that they would not review their medical insurance policy. Asked what human resource policies would likely be implemented during a pandemic, over 50 percent of companies said that they might evacuate employees working in a pandemic-affected area and provide mandatory sick leave, as well as provide flexible working policies, such as arranging for employees to work on shifts, or for teams to work at separate sites. Meanwhile, nearly 60 percent of respondent companies indicated that there was little they could do to protect themselves from the impact a pandemic outbreak even with precautionary planning. However, over 70 percent agreed that to be properly prepared for a pandemic would be to fulfil their social responsibilities.
•Date: 1st Dec 2006• Region: Hong Kong •Type: Article •Topic: Pandemic planning |
